The present invention is directed to the technology of the coloring of hair, in its various forms, including, but not limited to, highlighting and frosting. These techniques are used to change the color of a person's hair. In particular, frosting or highlighting involve the coloring of selected strands of hair, while leaving other strands their natural color, or another color. Such coloring techniques are by nature time consuming and expensive.
A number of different methods have been used to accomplish frosting in the prior art. One of the most common involves the use of a foil. Using a small rectangular sheet of chemical-impervious material, strands of hair to be colored are separated from the subject's hair and placed on the foil. Coloring chemicals are then applied to the hair, using a brush, foam, or sponge. The foil is then folded about the colored strands. The process is repeated for each area of the hair to be frosted. Eventually, dozens or more separate foils cover the subject's head, and these are left in place while the coloring agents do their work. Finally, the foils are removed and disposed of.
The foil method is inexpensive as far as the materials are concerned, but extremely time consuming and therefore expensive because of the labor costs involved. The foils are typically made of a coated metal foil material. They must be cut to the desired size for each area of the subject's head to be frosted. More importantly, the stylist must use one hand to maintain the foil in place while the hair strands to be colored are selected, typically using the “pick” at the end of a comb. After the strands are selected, the hair stylist, still holding the foil in one hand, applies the coloring agent with the other. The process is awkward, and the stylist must be sure to keep all the materials required within easy reach. Only after the foil has been folded can the foil be released, since at this point the coloring agents act as an adhesive, holding the foil in place by adhering to the foil and the hair within.
Even when the stylist is practiced and careful, the foil may move about during the application of the coloring agent, resulting in the coloring of other, undesired portions of hair. In addition, there exists the danger of seepage of the coloring agent from the foil, with the same result.
Furthermore, because of the time involved in this process, the stylist often has difficulty in maintaining the coloring agents at the desired time in each foil to maintain a consistent coloring throughout the scalp. There remains a persistent problem of coloring too much or too little of the hair, due, in part, to timing problems relating to the amount of time the coloring agent is on the hair.
Other methods of frosting have been used in order to attempt to circumvent the problems of the foil method. These include covering the subject's hair with a cap having a number of holes formed within, and pulling strands of hair through the holes using a hook or other suitable device. A coloring agent can then be applied to the strands extending through the cap. However, this method has a number of problems associated, not the least of which that it is painful for many subjects.
The present foil and its method of use substantially solve the problems of the prior art. The advantages of the foil method are maintained, including the simplicity and low cost the foils themselves. The current invention provides a foil which clings to the hair even before the strands are selected for coloring, so that the stylist is free to move about during the application. The foil of the current invention also maintains the selected strands in place before the foil is folded, so that constant adjustment of the strands, as in the prior art, is not required. The result is that the coloring process using the foils of the present invention proceeds at a fraction of the time required by method using the prior art foils.
The present invention also allows the stylist to use foils of almost any width desired, even facilitating the frosting of half a head of hair with a single foil. Even very short hair, previously impossible to color using the prior art, can be easily colored using the current invention.
Because of the decreased time of the application of color using the present method, timing considerations are greatly reduced. Use of transparent windows in the foils, or making the foils out of transparent material, further relieves the problem of inconsistency in the color from one foil to the next.